tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45631433333658854582024-03-19T05:34:23.761-07:00The Baked WindsurferNinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-66871368390822790202018-05-09T16:27:00.000-07:002018-05-09T16:27:49.867-07:00US NationalsI know it has been a while since the Nationals in Virginia, but I felt it does deserve a report simply because it was great. I probably had even more fun than during OBX wind the week before, and that is something considering that there was no freestyle at the Nationals.<br />
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The event was run by Dave and Melissa Kashy from their home in Virginia. The location is awesome and they did an amazing job! There were free yoga classes in the morning and group dinners every night. This made such a big difference because all of the sudden you are racing with friends instead of strangers (or at least with people you have laughed with at dinner). It brings back the fun in racing where you talk to people during a slow downwind leg on the longboard, cheer for people on their formula gear when they are planing during the long distance race, joke with friends while rounding a buoy, or get tips from the race committee on the boat when crossing the finish line.<br />
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I joined the races for open, long distance and slalom. Overall it did not work out the way it was planned because I ended up on completely different gear, but I am very happy about the way everything turned out. I was only able to compete on a longboard in the open class because Chris let me use his Fanatic cat (big thank you!).<br />
The slalom race I ended up doing on my freestyle gear because the course was set way off shore and reports talked about 3 ft swell and 25 - 30 mph winds. Of course by the time I made it out on my Skate and the 5.0 there was maybe 15-20 mph and 1.5 ft chop. Wish I would have not been such a scaredy-cat and used the 6.3 or 7.0 race sail with a slalom board. Next time!<br />
The long distance race was fun because I got to use a Kona for the first time ever (thank you Pam for letting me use yours!). I did not expect to have that much fun on it and ended up trying some freestyle on it after the race. Now we might have to go to the Kona Worlds in October...<br />
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Here are some pictures from the 2018 Nationals take by the amazing photographers Glenn Woodell, Wendy Podmenik Darugar, and Alain Nimri:<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Longboard race start</td>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Slalom gold fleet</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the way to the race course</td>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kona fleet</td>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The amazing location - birds view</td>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">International foil action</td>
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<br />Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-15452569574263999732018-04-22T16:08:00.005-07:002018-04-22T16:08:49.368-07:00OBX Wind WeekI just spent two great weeks with old and new friends and lots of wind in Hatteras. The OBX-Wind week was once again a lot of fun and a great success with 220 racers on the water for the long distance races. I took Phil Soltysiak's freestyle clinic this year and learned lots of useful things and had a ton of fun sailing with the other freestylers in the group. Wind every day for two weeks made it pretty much an all around success.<br />
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The two standouts of the week for me were watching Boujmaa Guilloul wave sail and having all the freestylers on the water. Special thanks to Jon Sassone and Max Robinson for approaching me with tips about some moves I was working on - super useful and very much appreciated! Besides that, just seeing all the amazing freestylers on the water was a huge inspiration and helped a lot in getting a better idea about timing and wind angles.<br />
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Here are two pictures from Wyatt and Joup during the freestyle competition (picture credit IWT):<br />
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And here are some from Boujmaa at ramp 43 on the ~40mph day (picture credit IWT):<br />
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Now Peter and I are in Virginia waiting for our next adventure with the US Nationals starting on Wednesday. Once again we lucked out in finding a great place to stay. Here is our breakfast view at sunrise:
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<br />Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-34728428049966641972018-04-02T17:32:00.000-07:002018-04-02T17:32:13.404-07:00Raspberry Cake and Paddle CoverI finally got back to my sewing machine and made something useful for our upcoming trip to Hatteras: a paddle cover. I always worried about my carbon paddle getting all scratched up when throwing it in the van with all the other stuff, so using an old F2 sail, some neoprene, a velcro strap from an old windsurfing boot, and polypropylene webbing, this paddle cover was created in an afternoon:<br />
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Also, here is a quick picture of the cake I made for Easter (or of what was left when I managed to take a picture):
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8fBfcSI9F6_Q_FuzkLmU6nY7TsfaQArCNWTduEc9RwearXT2GHo25PguP_1ctiphPzJsWNIL60GtylYF42pmRf03uiPhgU0oRIHM7_ZcFQ6wpFH_F_mEeJPBJ4XDwtRRUPfU9xuR3rFR/s1600/IMG_5814.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="824" data-original-width="1112" height="473" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8fBfcSI9F6_Q_FuzkLmU6nY7TsfaQArCNWTduEc9RwearXT2GHo25PguP_1ctiphPzJsWNIL60GtylYF42pmRf03uiPhgU0oRIHM7_ZcFQ6wpFH_F_mEeJPBJ4XDwtRRUPfU9xuR3rFR/s640/IMG_5814.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
It is a "Käsesahnetorte mit Himbeeren und Mandelbiskuit", which roughly translates to greek yogurt and cream cake with raspberry and almond sponge cake.
Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-80263639441262632602018-03-14T13:48:00.002-07:002018-03-14T13:50:38.547-07:00The Fisherman<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-size: 17.6px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px;">
I just found, for the first time, a good english translation of one of my favorite stories from Germany. For everyone who is wondering why Peter and I choose to windsurf so much, this explains it very well.</div>
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"An investor was at the pier of a small coastal village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The investor complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.<br />
<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The fisherman replied, “Only a little while.”</em></div>
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The investor then asked him why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish.<br />
<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The fisherman replied, “I have enough to support my family.”</em></div>
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What do you do with the rest of your time?<br />
<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, stroll into the village each evening where I drink great beer, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.</em></div>
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The investor scoffed, You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy several boats; eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would then move to the big city, and eventually New York City, to run your expanding enterprise.<br />
<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">But, how long will this all take?</em></div>
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Only 15 to 20 years.<br />
<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Then what?</em></div>
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The investor laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich; you would make millions!”<br />
<em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Millions – then what?</em></div>
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Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you would drink great beer and play your guitar with your amigos."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, "Bitstream Charter", serif; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; padding: 0px;">
<span style="border: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; font-family: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Originally Written as Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIv47iGsqAkNQvQTPBWZKldDLNeAIOzYvA6M5l3Rg2ISX70EqC0i0EbxyukUa0gpbvTiG_LeL-wZOT9EWfsUHoZ7xj5EWDVXarBqwBdLdGM95iNzJvlOTEkP8fDUH7BrHMSRl3UV7oVLov/s1600/DSC_0112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIv47iGsqAkNQvQTPBWZKldDLNeAIOzYvA6M5l3Rg2ISX70EqC0i0EbxyukUa0gpbvTiG_LeL-wZOT9EWfsUHoZ7xj5EWDVXarBqwBdLdGM95iNzJvlOTEkP8fDUH7BrHMSRl3UV7oVLov/s640/DSC_0112.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter and I sailing at BIB, Texas</td></tr>
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Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-82419146740100346862017-08-14T15:52:00.003-07:002017-08-14T15:52:53.585-07:00Industrial Sewing MachineIt's been a while since I have posted anything, and it was not due to a lack of baking or windsurfing. It is because I finally managed to get an industrial sewing machine!<br />
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I managed to find a Bernina 217 in great condition and when I am not windsurfing or baking or doing yoga, I am sewing. Peter cleared out and insulated our unfinished attic for me, so now I have a perfect sail loft up there. I got a sail fixing starter kit from Gerda who used to do sail repairs, ordered a bunch of stuff online, and have received tons of great advice from Bob who taught me how to fix sails this spring in Texas and is patiently answering emails with questions that came up sewing sail materials.<br />
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I started out making some bags out of old sails, neoprene, and sailcloth to get a feeling for the new machine and for sewing with sail materials. I absolutely love the machine since it sews so much nicer than the little plastic home sewing machine I used before. Fixing sails still takes some time as I have only done 2 by myself so far, but I am happy with the result and just have to improve my efficiency. I have not taken any pictures of fixing the sails, but here are some pictures of my sewing machine, the sail loft, my self-made sewing machine cover, and a laptop bag, duffel bag, and shoulder bag I made:<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH-vTsU9iOnuAr-G54SGnUw8xT1h7fyUGqNXWATFyAkijnNbYiddKRWLW92u-jCn7sgMPFro-XLV2gyrgFas2Zq6xycRhYWHKesM1d859nNPGzilLjpMapCgdbQLjpZvF5-krqSMyFl9fL/s1600/P1050135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH-vTsU9iOnuAr-G54SGnUw8xT1h7fyUGqNXWATFyAkijnNbYiddKRWLW92u-jCn7sgMPFro-XLV2gyrgFas2Zq6xycRhYWHKesM1d859nNPGzilLjpMapCgdbQLjpZvF5-krqSMyFl9fL/s320/P1050135.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laptop bag made from neoprene and an old F2 sail</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFoNdrLYd3LS1g4dV3p-DAjvLRX20FoyVIDHIvjjokm8e6RjtsqwK-vW58a7mYvHVPTDNVaL0ycLUGnEhEXKnn62DD6CjBDTMK47GGqPfJwpom4NjDxxRMFuu2MFspNcBfg7R9xODYLem/s1600/P1050136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwFoNdrLYd3LS1g4dV3p-DAjvLRX20FoyVIDHIvjjokm8e6RjtsqwK-vW58a7mYvHVPTDNVaL0ycLUGnEhEXKnn62DD6CjBDTMK47GGqPfJwpom4NjDxxRMFuu2MFspNcBfg7R9xODYLem/s320/P1050136.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duffel bag made from an old racing sail</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV6kMB-YLUzVMYgz-BGr9m0_UWuANZFItPzE7ruBKhL8FItrKUE-sA3iblxv07hfURvjUyHxaz2AJSTGZhDBgbvddp9JIWMK3Nn8sZjW_xeHUoohzOU07jUSDPq_jHb4zSS-VnVwUf4tHZ/s1600/P1050093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV6kMB-YLUzVMYgz-BGr9m0_UWuANZFItPzE7ruBKhL8FItrKUE-sA3iblxv07hfURvjUyHxaz2AJSTGZhDBgbvddp9JIWMK3Nn8sZjW_xeHUoohzOU07jUSDPq_jHb4zSS-VnVwUf4tHZ/s320/P1050093.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sail loft</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7RjBddB7MhMM9NlPW3IbG1IrrfhJGmhQ_3l7vwTzmYiP8CRxmC05Wwt04ZM3VRtj7kKBnSVumtGMMz6i1JAYEgJhf70TbtRKF0YlcVtngGLNe2_5Y6s_nmuaZg2zO3K7G_BSUhJF3G_Mk/s1600/P1050094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7RjBddB7MhMM9NlPW3IbG1IrrfhJGmhQ_3l7vwTzmYiP8CRxmC05Wwt04ZM3VRtj7kKBnSVumtGMMz6i1JAYEgJhf70TbtRKF0YlcVtngGLNe2_5Y6s_nmuaZg2zO3K7G_BSUhJF3G_Mk/s320/P1050094.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bernina 217</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilPqFrYcl1tOJ_yd5uBUN6lKJCbC9DEg3w6fPxzUU8acm6CN6yr1lolKcK8-gcanqdX_BQTGQc4oxQHBtyOEsCFlYPIuXFNY7DjNYYUAP5fLYJNZrCY5LVqvdDG19T1XjZXJEmOrcwV55b/s1600/P1050239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilPqFrYcl1tOJ_yd5uBUN6lKJCbC9DEg3w6fPxzUU8acm6CN6yr1lolKcK8-gcanqdX_BQTGQc4oxQHBtyOEsCFlYPIuXFNY7DjNYYUAP5fLYJNZrCY5LVqvdDG19T1XjZXJEmOrcwV55b/s320/P1050239.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shoulder bag</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXxMbYJ28xtvgOMuX2SEIckGz5_M744_Jr766_jDYXh7sL2DgBYhqmlmWfNsOyItwWpcVy-S6puBsuMxuWPLJQUSCs1g9tO2rIfLKF9HR2zESiUALWoOfAJE_mJuZExvKNX0jy2THOCnyB/s1600/P1050108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXxMbYJ28xtvgOMuX2SEIckGz5_M744_Jr766_jDYXh7sL2DgBYhqmlmWfNsOyItwWpcVy-S6puBsuMxuWPLJQUSCs1g9tO2rIfLKF9HR2zESiUALWoOfAJE_mJuZExvKNX0jy2THOCnyB/s320/P1050108.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover made from old windsurfing shirts</td></tr>
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<br />Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-41178169785760768332017-05-25T16:27:00.001-07:002017-05-25T16:27:27.930-07:00Lift OffI didn't feel like doing freestyle today in cold and rainy weather and decided to join Peter for some slalom action in East Bay instead. I went out on my 89l slalom board, the 5.6 race sail, and a 32 pointer fin. And managed to sail almost 4 runs before my session was cut short by a "spectacular catapult" (Peter's words).<br />
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I am not really sure what happened, but think it was a combination of using the waist harness the first time on race gear, and having a fin that was a bit too big. I got the waist harness idea from seeing a few of the better guys using it with slalom gear and thought I'd give it a try. I was perfectly fine, planing along in a straight line at around 50 km/h when a gust hit. I believe the board must have railed up due to the big fin (which I had noticed before but was being too lazy to change), and that in combination with the waist harness made it impossible for me to hold the sail down. The landing was pretty hard and I managed to hit the mast with the side of my head which has now a lump and a hot swollen ear. It also took me 10 minutes to get back up on the board due to the mast sleeve being full of water and me needing to figure out how to deal with that. On the positive side I learned how to water start a sail where I could not even push the tip out of the water, and to use a smaller fin and the seat harness for speed sailing in the future. The trick for water starting was to put the mast on the back of the board. Even though the boom did not touch it this gave it enough lift that I managed to push the tip up int the air to drain the mast sleeve.<br />
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Luckily I am fine except for a slight headache and all our gear survived! The good news is this combo has quite a bit of potential as I managed to hit 29 knots in the few runs before I crashed while I was still changing stuff around and not even doing any speed runs.<br />
<br />Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-70065748681986687502017-05-09T17:28:00.002-07:002017-05-09T17:28:19.580-07:00Poppy Seed Baileys CakeI had bought some poppy seeds for my homemade bread, but never ended up using them, so I ended up making this cake with them:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq3HkBjMG2kzNcsyWiyaRNnvrHnqRPjGUzJoSz8etra6nEglH6AqbYyqNb2ICEhMwApE0Que5ifQKbUmYaIWtW61KXp_-1tToPkCmY95MlKCcPl2FufhLlJEKmRKbHTYx3URUOwNX_o1ct/s1600/P1050088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq3HkBjMG2kzNcsyWiyaRNnvrHnqRPjGUzJoSz8etra6nEglH6AqbYyqNb2ICEhMwApE0Que5ifQKbUmYaIWtW61KXp_-1tToPkCmY95MlKCcPl2FufhLlJEKmRKbHTYx3URUOwNX_o1ct/s1600/P1050088.jpg" /></a></div>
The cake batter is made with Baileys which tastes really good in this combination. Here is the recipe:<br />
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To make the poppy seed mix, I used <b>100g poppy seeds, 45 ml milk, 30 g sugar and 20 g butter</b>. Melt the butter in a small pot and add the milk, sugar and poppy seeds. Heat the mix for about 1 1/2 minutes, take it off the heat, and let it cool a bit. The original recipe calls for grinding the poppy seeds, but this was not possible with my normal kitchen mixer, so I used them the way they were. The main difference will be the texture of your poppy seed layer in the cake - ground poppy seeds will make a finer texture (obviously).<br />
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To make the cake batter beat <b>2 sticks butter (224g) with 175g sugar and 4 eggs</b> until creamy. Add about <b>70 ml Baileys, some salt and vanilla sugar, two teaspoons baking powder and 280g flour</b>.<br />
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Take 1/3 of the batter and put it in the bottom of the bundt form, put another 1/3 to the side. Add the poppy seed mix to the last 1/3 of the batter and add one egg. If you ground the poppy seeds you might have to add some extra Baileys here. Put the poppy seed dough in your pan, then top with the remaining 1/3 of the white batter.<br />
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Bake at 350 - 360 degrees for 50 - 60 minutes.<br />
<br />Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-25920103608225509352017-04-23T17:22:00.003-07:002017-04-24T08:36:49.764-07:00Dahab: Freestyle, Friendliness, Cats and SunIf you don't know where to go for your next windsurfing vacation: Go to Dahab, Egypt! We just came back from an amazing trip to this place and pretty much everything about it was great. It was warm, it was sunny, it was windy, the people were amazing, the food was good, ...<br />
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There were a few things however that made Dahab an outstanding place to be in my opinion:<br />
1.) Lots of company from other freestylers on the water. And every level - you see people practicing duck jibes, trying their first Vulcans, Loops and Flakas, going for Backloops and Shakas in the waves, and laying down massive Konos and Skopus.<br />
2.) The weather: It is always warm, but never feels hot due to the low humidity. I had plenty of 3.7 and 4.2 days even though it is supposedly windier in the summer. And it is cool enough at night that you can sleep comfortably.<br />
3.) The genuinely nice people. Almost everyone you meet has a genuine friendliness about them that you just don't experience in most other places. People that had a very hard time over the past few years show a happiness and care in a way that you would not see in the USA where people tend to put themselves first, or in Germany where complaining seems to be standard procedure (yes, I know there are exceptions).<br />
4.) The town itself. Dahab has an amazing vibe and is a great place to just hang out, go snorkeling, or go for food. This is to the point where I did not mind a non-windy day and would just look forward to sitting on a beachfront cafe and snorkel to watch the colorful fish. It is also very safe (no idea why they still have some travel warnings up) and last but not least it is also cheap.<br />
5.) The cats. If you like cats this is the place to be. There are soooo many cats! They look great, not like the wild cats in the Caribbean, they come to you and cuddle or play, but they also stay away if you don't want them there.<br />
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I would highly recommend staying in an apartment instead of a hotel, just because you get to go out to town for food instead of being stuck in a hotel with the same buffet every night. We stayed with Toby and Fiona from <a href="http://dahabholidays.com/dahab-apartments-windsurf-kitesurf.html" target="_blank">Dahab Holidays</a> in one of their amazing apartments and absolutely loved it! The place is great and Fi and Toby make it superb by being amazing hosts.<br />
We rented our windsurf gear from <a href="http://www.dahab-stars.com/" target="_blank">Dahab Stars</a>, who also made the extra great effort to take care of everything. Ahmed even managed to find a 90l Skate for me - his own board, which he let me use simply because I have the same one at home!<br />
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I'll leave you with a few of my favorite pictures from the trip:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitV1HjQsOf7x1wELV72-JzJt9VinMbq_EB5V7uGjCz4z64F_cARmr2WLQrqEyypwvjziopBncZFJewkdsOfov8nvkB1NFOWaGIVQbkMMHACxkyZcaDxnxTsvuueFq1Vqyf2s_7RaHfQhkX/s1600/P1040994+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitV1HjQsOf7x1wELV72-JzJt9VinMbq_EB5V7uGjCz4z64F_cARmr2WLQrqEyypwvjziopBncZFJewkdsOfov8nvkB1NFOWaGIVQbkMMHACxkyZcaDxnxTsvuueFq1Vqyf2s_7RaHfQhkX/s320/P1040994+%25281%2529.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swing in one of the cafes</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjzvPImRzbjreY_d2nvfbnHUw-PyY_tc24pOUetwbXDSNHQ2oCl9ceIkrKHyfWw7UhkxY-tjNV0flJGE2UnKfKYsvfg7UTXJCnTnbUgka7RNIHcnGmUDirMGWkFyAj0NKM6SeQaffDyvdb/s1600/P1050009+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjzvPImRzbjreY_d2nvfbnHUw-PyY_tc24pOUetwbXDSNHQ2oCl9ceIkrKHyfWw7UhkxY-tjNV0flJGE2UnKfKYsvfg7UTXJCnTnbUgka7RNIHcnGmUDirMGWkFyAj0NKM6SeQaffDyvdb/s320/P1050009+%25281%2529.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Relaxing at dinner</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I just like this pic</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEE6OPMbiFTLnYJ_y081URqztwOI3HmT46o-taoh1-4E6rWXMS3Dw0bnUw5o1et0p2Pc-A29BPlkWMQSlYdzFNUunvmLHncrW4XxLfw33QbrGoYAdjR9hzDtU0ODLZlQefR5W0ZVGaUclN/s1600/P1040964+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEE6OPMbiFTLnYJ_y081URqztwOI3HmT46o-taoh1-4E6rWXMS3Dw0bnUw5o1et0p2Pc-A29BPlkWMQSlYdzFNUunvmLHncrW4XxLfw33QbrGoYAdjR9hzDtU0ODLZlQefR5W0ZVGaUclN/s320/P1040964+%25281%2529.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lemon-mint and strawberry juice at sunset</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjytdqi-hV03bHPscMjD7302TW6c1ojIA4WfyyFuIQEfR0ja0MFyBYsbfTu7Z1F8QtRZKc9rIF20zLpq8YEKvvq0JFR7LqNW7ZGIbR8UYrDJZHvIMMidxgNztQszS-Pcd150td-SONres4l/s320/P1040980+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="368" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Afternoon cafe at the water</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGePoSB9hubRClZGjFoN9qEaSt6rt5BZtazrAVFG6E28GJJOcApP8gXxYS9lAQGtw0UxnJ7By-PSYLpAH1O5dsj_GOzyFDGVyWmsK_OGJ2HmgsRCxlRvSKZY_SuzWcR2mwE1OUBTT5yyKw/s1600/P1040991+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGePoSB9hubRClZGjFoN9qEaSt6rt5BZtazrAVFG6E28GJJOcApP8gXxYS9lAQGtw0UxnJ7By-PSYLpAH1O5dsj_GOzyFDGVyWmsK_OGJ2HmgsRCxlRvSKZY_SuzWcR2mwE1OUBTT5yyKw/s320/P1040991+%25281%2529.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love cats!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjytdqi-hV03bHPscMjD7302TW6c1ojIA4WfyyFuIQEfR0ja0MFyBYsbfTu7Z1F8QtRZKc9rIF20zLpq8YEKvvq0JFR7LqNW7ZGIbR8UYrDJZHvIMMidxgNztQszS-Pcd150td-SONres4l/s1600/P1040980+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em;"></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_KJ2czjsgGkJD71hIK1irKP5JQ6k7S5h04MZ5COz2mx6hZAPc_P6LqX3MJC4GPEpSrcH5NXQS6PZgFKiUf4fYgc60uXNVRPBFqEMpylIQv228QdIvUPz_4TgdwDP_MvS7XUhjiPK02Z0n/s1600/QuickTime+PlayerScreenSnapz001+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_KJ2czjsgGkJD71hIK1irKP5JQ6k7S5h04MZ5COz2mx6hZAPc_P6LqX3MJC4GPEpSrcH5NXQS6PZgFKiUf4fYgc60uXNVRPBFqEMpylIQv228QdIvUPz_4TgdwDP_MvS7XUhjiPK02Z0n/s320/QuickTime+PlayerScreenSnapz001+%25281%2529.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where is the fish?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjerm_Wa1wrU8TpZmXybzkT7ffbseHf8HYQSVDGimpMuE3l4JI3vfdEIwNbutAx23hJbNpcub9dMnDhbiWqhy_Bjwj1RWabABCB0QcJe162fKfBd48NgxJjMvZn2jQLSKsrQ94wpF6nENuO/s1600/GOPR0099+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjerm_Wa1wrU8TpZmXybzkT7ffbseHf8HYQSVDGimpMuE3l4JI3vfdEIwNbutAx23hJbNpcub9dMnDhbiWqhy_Bjwj1RWabABCB0QcJe162fKfBd48NgxJjMvZn2jQLSKsrQ94wpF6nENuO/s320/GOPR0099+%25281%2529.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reef view while snorkeling</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chilling at the 3 pools</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzflj2tLbLd4XNZUTNX2nOA1eBigdVUmrkdG64Ey7f3TllnHxx4DXudy_iH7DVCF-d-hB-gIYgPbZz8T3Y7gFwyFqjjJq_28t2UREShx4uhhJz0N6wQ2bMXYjwC6_UOCdCXDMDyMW19CR/s1600/P1040992+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzflj2tLbLd4XNZUTNX2nOA1eBigdVUmrkdG64Ey7f3TllnHxx4DXudy_iH7DVCF-d-hB-gIYgPbZz8T3Y7gFwyFqjjJq_28t2UREShx4uhhJz0N6wQ2bMXYjwC6_UOCdCXDMDyMW19CR/s320/P1040992+%25281%2529.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cafe front in Dahab</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxWiP8RQSeMzyImDM9moyiqrlXbIMOgSbzYFCWvnSX9fooyrJD8mqvhPdc9IrH5fDo83BVf4EvOERagu_7CYe4AqEukuNnDjBXUtWABZ37EmZLHsjIK9rkl_jhXOyb35UVFY-1xjAWAzJ/s1600/P1050053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpxWiP8RQSeMzyImDM9moyiqrlXbIMOgSbzYFCWvnSX9fooyrJD8mqvhPdc9IrH5fDo83BVf4EvOERagu_7CYe4AqEukuNnDjBXUtWABZ37EmZLHsjIK9rkl_jhXOyb35UVFY-1xjAWAzJ/s320/P1050053.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our windsurf rental place</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbzEC3922b1NfRhAwgbcBPkYOm13LyuQXmkgsdAE2QLXJJOHW0_08vFSKJBUrJ7ZoqMljIWRgJXVvE_cGatGeyvuOOsBrNeAI3lS6WQlVmvrK-Q5SNgLCcPJrrKfcfwPaUV4gsUkE7_ujK/s1600/P1050016+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbzEC3922b1NfRhAwgbcBPkYOm13LyuQXmkgsdAE2QLXJJOHW0_08vFSKJBUrJ7ZoqMljIWRgJXVvE_cGatGeyvuOOsBrNeAI3lS6WQlVmvrK-Q5SNgLCcPJrrKfcfwPaUV4gsUkE7_ujK/s320/P1050016+%25281%2529.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset over the red mountains</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdfcGU2c3JpP2sJQTBGDFnUZ-MMfI4EzYJsyZ5wtqNR9GHJ1eEqmTSU_64zh-Oyug3fuB-mu7BtqCXxewZa4Ye8d1onkUuG3bj-JVEjtUeQZRfEoPHv0BkwWkl-93nUk-24fxxvgkD2us/s1600/P1040956+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdfcGU2c3JpP2sJQTBGDFnUZ-MMfI4EzYJsyZ5wtqNR9GHJ1eEqmTSU_64zh-Oyug3fuB-mu7BtqCXxewZa4Ye8d1onkUuG3bj-JVEjtUeQZRfEoPHv0BkwWkl-93nUk-24fxxvgkD2us/s320/P1040956+%25281%2529.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside view of our beautiful apartment</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlA0WE5LYisVV4stVL5pQCPL60YsAQQaYx6ONgIcjqYF-TuSq3RR3REaOIWUn6Q9Nqh13iQh-EN2OlF7h8u3t_j-Kh5RSAsMLyG8ZkYHibhZYAYltwzwZZVZ2wpJ_-SVs5IXeA3RyxH9bG/s1600/P1050028+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlA0WE5LYisVV4stVL5pQCPL60YsAQQaYx6ONgIcjqYF-TuSq3RR3REaOIWUn6Q9Nqh13iQh-EN2OlF7h8u3t_j-Kh5RSAsMLyG8ZkYHibhZYAYltwzwZZVZ2wpJ_-SVs5IXeA3RyxH9bG/s320/P1050028+%25281%2529.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Red mountains and windsurfer</td></tr>
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<br />Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-34387875353413131012017-03-01T16:59:00.003-08:002017-03-01T16:59:56.710-08:00Learning about Sail RepairsYesterday morning I got a 4 hour lesson on how to repair sails!<br />
When dropping off my 5.0 and 4.2 for some new panels, Bob offered to watch and help with repairing them. I am so glad Peter and I joined him for fixing my 5.0 - I learned a ton and it was very useful to learn this hands on instead of just by reading and trial and error.<br />
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Both of my sails do have many crinkles and small cuts where the panel crunches up when rigging. It was time to get them fixed, and lucky as I am here is this guy in Texas that has repaired around 8000 sails and he is offering his input! My 5.0 got two new panels, and I feel like I can now fix my own sails if I just get a good sewing machine for it. Huge thanks to Bob for his patience and advice! Here are some pictures that Peter took:<br />
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<br />Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-36524888335342785022017-02-12T09:01:00.000-08:002017-02-12T09:01:19.006-08:00Vulcan InspirationYesterday I finally had company from Mark for some new school freestyle practice on the water at BIB. It was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine, warm water and averages of 25-30mph for most of the day. The best part of the day was seeing Mark complete his first Vulcan - congratulations!!!<br />
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It was super inspiring to see him out there practicing Vulcans and then making one.
Funnily I had my best Vulcan tries almost always directly after seeing a good try from Mark. I think a big part of learning new school freestyle is having others out sailing and practicing with you - it psychs you up, shows you how it is done, and that the crashes are not as bad as they look.<br />
Here is a picture Peter took of Mark during takeoff:
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<br />Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-16998128954377812002017-01-27T16:58:00.003-08:002017-01-27T16:58:33.792-08:00OverpoweredIt's windy here in Corpus Christi! And I mean really windy. I have no idea where the wind comes from, the forecast never shows any wind until a day or two in advance. And even then the prediction is usually really low. The wind meter is the same. Today it read averages of 20-25mph and I was lit on my 4.2. I have yet to figure out how to rig the right sail to not end up lit like sh*t. Well, I had one underpowered day on my 5.0.<br />
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Here's a short recap:<br />
<u>Sailing day 1:</u> Just arrived, rigged the 5.0, should have been on the 4.2.<br />
<u>Sailing day 2:</u> 5.0 again. This way my only underpowered day. Still nice in warm temps and water.<br />
<u>Sailing day 3:</u> Light wind freestyle in almost planing conditions and Lycra - yes it was that warm!<br />
<u>(Sailing) day 4:</u> Tried to do speed, on the 4.7 TR7 and the 89l Falcon. Injured my triceps and ended up walking back a little more than 1 mile. Crazy windy - I had problems carrying my gear into the water and ended up dragging it in. Guess I should have rigged the 3.4...<br />
<u>Sailing day 5:</u> My triceps still hurts, so I think I am taking it slow rigging the 4.2 when everybody else is on way larger stuff. I end up rigging down to the 3.7 and could have sailed the 3.4 easy.<br />
<u>Sailing day 6:</u> The readings show 18mph, I rig my 5.0 and have a couple of normal-powered runs until the wind picks up again. It was supposed to go down. I stay on the 5.0 but should have rigged down to the 4.5.<br />
<u>Sailing day 7:</u> Well, it was supposed to be windy. But not that much. It kind of looks like 4.5, I rig the 4.2, but end up contemplating to rig down to the 3.7 or 3.4 the whole day while sailing. Just the last hour the wind drops a little and I can finally really try some stuff instead of just pretending to try and getting slammed.<br />
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If you've never been to North Padre Island for windsurfing and you windsurf you need to go. Last year I was sore for the first 4 weeks because it was so windy. We planed pretty much every second day. From how it is shaping up, this year seems to be no different or even windier. Peter has already set 3 new personal bests speed-sailing in the last 7 sessions.<br />
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Here are a few pictures of the sailing spot and conditions:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPnzeGGpAp-ebhKm2Rrdu4ydcNdKw4tZfkr9NMqDynbMxTxKBhwICmOgBS0YXzC_gH6kTzT4pH_coB8LbBjs_R6bLlV9wekXCrpvXWXYhWpia3FHFvDO28_IY-fNH5-kbZ39OqstWMp-RS/s1600/windy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPnzeGGpAp-ebhKm2Rrdu4ydcNdKw4tZfkr9NMqDynbMxTxKBhwICmOgBS0YXzC_gH6kTzT4pH_coB8LbBjs_R6bLlV9wekXCrpvXWXYhWpia3FHFvDO28_IY-fNH5-kbZ39OqstWMp-RS/s1600/windy.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view of the bay on a windy day at Bird Island Basin (the bay is shallow, you can stand almost e</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUkPn6TAgvpPxUpqKqCedF63hw7SuBuxXWqQ4vLSvh7VM6hZuOAam-kU5VvGqDotXUoAdWdU6jg9ozMufQAOXE8EaUEpA3ovEfUWYbKBToEfWS39g3DHvhQkW6XrggY6j6H5t4tvdZtwU/s320/launch.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="368" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of our sailing spot from the water</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglajy_xIO6WNlWxryCTvcmmCC_qH2KsYVIkUHBPMFeEdQdAicAaHPY4aR68a3yjydy1V_Okd3w4xKmGRDVM-NMdLx5OxsUQr1gdyLb9YqXhlubgubb2YEVWhbsIsRuIAdjJIenXvmijDzQ/s1600/windy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglajy_xIO6WNlWxryCTvcmmCC_qH2KsYVIkUHBPMFeEdQdAicAaHPY4aR68a3yjydy1V_Okd3w4xKmGRDVM-NMdLx5OxsUQr1gdyLb9YqXhlubgubb2YEVWhbsIsRuIAdjJIenXvmijDzQ/s320/windy2.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It windy - again</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78HalMGNVtFD3aMH7oc_k1P8cAXVjLoowf8ey8_sYc-vs9rQvuSZSiCY9_Frn6MBHJ9yDM3keHeRBDyTuLvSBxngaYtlWwQq0eAs9o1QAzNxPAtKGfQw29V6DoQ-p3Yu3mVx75jzO2acF/s1600/lit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" height="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj78HalMGNVtFD3aMH7oc_k1P8cAXVjLoowf8ey8_sYc-vs9rQvuSZSiCY9_Frn6MBHJ9yDM3keHeRBDyTuLvSBxngaYtlWwQq0eAs9o1QAzNxPAtKGfQw29V6DoQ-p3Yu3mVx75jzO2acF/s320/lit.JPG" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I on my 4.2</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvFQElnGuqm5qmzFHJJTJcNiwtsR-Hdb-IvC7LU5zxfgJNi-WhO3isxMmT5Kk7ugdgePLt0aV4_6ZUx4WKqooxI0BmwlbCpQ5Ciybt_2sv5EGMA_Ckos9TKH1xy8f03nUfEVU4BH2c4GCQ/s1600/Worldwinds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvFQElnGuqm5qmzFHJJTJcNiwtsR-Hdb-IvC7LU5zxfgJNi-WhO3isxMmT5Kk7ugdgePLt0aV4_6ZUx4WKqooxI0BmwlbCpQ5Ciybt_2sv5EGMA_Ckos9TKH1xy8f03nUfEVU4BH2c4GCQ/s320/Worldwinds.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Worldwinds - awesome place with great rental equipment</td></tr>
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<br />Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-50657403351524543242017-01-18T16:23:00.004-08:002017-01-18T16:23:52.459-08:00Howdy Texas!We made it!<br />
After a 2 day driving marathon we arrived on North Padre Island to do what? Windsurf, of course! Having driven for more than 24 hours straight we quickly unloaded some stuff and went to the beach. Wind readings showed 21 mph with temperatures around 23 degrees Celsius (~75F), the water being almost as warm.<br />
Not trusting my instincts after driving so long I asked for advice on what to rig and ended up rigging my 5.0 after seeing people out on what seemed to be mostly between 5.5 and 6.5. I believe the wind picked up just when I rigged, but I should have probably listened to Peter who rigged his 5.6 which would have meant 4.2 or 4.5 for me. I ended up pretty overpowered but was as usual too lazy to re-rig and simply sailed what I was on. Of course this meant lots of sore muscles the next day, but that was curable by going sailing again. The session on the second day was also on the 5.0, but mostly underpowered and involved lots of pumping. And since it it a cold day today here in Texas (16 degrees Celsius = 60 F), this means I get to soak my tired muscles in our private hot tub in a few minutes ;)<br />
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Here are a few pictures from what we left behind on Cape Cod, I in the car during a short ferry ride, and of course our hot tub:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZyRUU6o5QLy37bWZDYUcQHLhjEi9ZMgeMaP1p3cCiGeoKnHzVTaYnMLS66WR1C1_GQV01iwmQeZcFeGA0vI2jywmxexkTtWUliejstF-YOTZK3G4CzgJVtp03Rzo_xKLaLH-Xb-8_BAdN/s1600/winter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZyRUU6o5QLy37bWZDYUcQHLhjEi9ZMgeMaP1p3cCiGeoKnHzVTaYnMLS66WR1C1_GQV01iwmQeZcFeGA0vI2jywmxexkTtWUliejstF-YOTZK3G4CzgJVtp03Rzo_xKLaLH-Xb-8_BAdN/s320/winter.jpg" width="368" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqz_ZyZMMgEDF0Kgp74veoHDqFij8HWAWY_wEfzUzrKAoRTxAuRiVwCt0qo9q2bFAxxU2Jl-YpK2SknDt-HuzISAYEsXGOBGLxHnMulw17llZK34JJGqLyC-Hr_d_mKe9fw7zqxqDnyTY-/s1600/snow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqz_ZyZMMgEDF0Kgp74veoHDqFij8HWAWY_wEfzUzrKAoRTxAuRiVwCt0qo9q2bFAxxU2Jl-YpK2SknDt-HuzISAYEsXGOBGLxHnMulw17llZK34JJGqLyC-Hr_d_mKe9fw7zqxqDnyTY-/s320/snow.jpg" width="368" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5hCu1wkYhPlgpEGEZWxUAVEcjeJmv5Lx2kgcs6h2r8KYNX039IxYj0cs4fl2D5TxIoYvkgq7N2-j5PwJD48jqNEAEBYPIZYSEo5TAJVY0ZfXbK4oKs33ZHsUvaldQUzzSyAL-XgJFV6uu/s1600/hot+tub.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5hCu1wkYhPlgpEGEZWxUAVEcjeJmv5Lx2kgcs6h2r8KYNX039IxYj0cs4fl2D5TxIoYvkgq7N2-j5PwJD48jqNEAEBYPIZYSEo5TAJVY0ZfXbK4oKs33ZHsUvaldQUzzSyAL-XgJFV6uu/s320/hot+tub.jpg" width="368" /></a></div>
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<br />Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-82575586065938505162017-01-09T17:27:00.000-08:002017-01-09T17:27:20.446-08:00German CheesecakeIt was Peter's birthday recently, so I made his favorite cake: German cheesecake:<br />
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German cheesecake is made with greek yogurt, not with cream cheese like the American version. Since there are also several eggs in the cake and I usually make the bottom crust with half whole wheat flour, Peter calls this cake healthy. While I am not sure this is true, it is probably one of the "better for you" cake recipes.<br />
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<u>Crust:</u>
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<ul>
<li>100g white flour</li>
<li>100g whole wheat flour</li>
<li>100g butter</li>
<li>50g sugar</li>
<li>1 egg</li>
<li>salt</li>
<li>1/2 tsp baking powder</li>
</ul>
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<u>Filling:</u></div>
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<ul>
<li>750g greek yogurt</li>
<li>200 ml cream </li>
<li>100 ml milk</li>
<li>3 eggs</li>
<li>120g sugar</li>
<li>1 tbsp vanilla sugar</li>
<li>3-4 tbsp instant vanilla pudding</li>
</ul>
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Combine the ingredients for the crust to a smooth dough, and put in the fridge for 1 hour. I usually soften / melt the butter before mixing the ingredients (I believe you are not supposed to do this and use cold chunks of butter, but I never noticed much of a difference in the end product and it is way easier to combine with melted butter).<div>
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Bake crust in preheated 390 degree oven for 10 minutes. Let cool slightly.</div>
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Combine greek yogurt, milk, and cream. Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar until frothy, then beat in the pudding powder. Using a spoon stir egg mixture into greek yogurt until combined. Put on crust and bake at 390 degrees for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 340 degrees and continue to bake for 55 minutes. Let cool in baking form.<div>
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Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-46489219227315830502016-12-21T19:01:00.001-08:002016-12-21T19:01:58.377-08:00The Gingerbread QuestThis Christmas season I embarked on a quest to find the perfect gingerbread recipe. My goal was to make a soft gingerbread that has just the right amount of spices.<br />
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Did I find it? Not quite, but I am so close...<br />
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I started out with some regular recipes I found online that do not require and hard to get ingredients like Hirschhornsalz (baker's ammonia). The first recipe I tried fooled me and the gingerbread turned out to be hard. It was not bad, but definitely not what I wanted. The second recipe was not actually a gingerbread recipe, it contained lots of eggs and butter and was really more of a cake - but it tasted amazing. I also made something similar to Magenbrot (a gingerbread like cookie that is sold on Christmas markets in Germany), which is probably my second favorite Christmas cookie recipe, but again not really gingerbread.<br />
After that I figured I better get some Hirschhornsalz and proper gingerbread spices from Germany (thanks a lot mom for sending me some!). Then I went online and looked for an old gingerbread recipe that contains invert sugar cream (Kunsthonig), which was used in war times instead of real honey. I found a recipe which I slightly modified by using a mix of brown and white sugar instead of white sugar only, and mostly whole wheat flour and ground nuts instead of white flour. I also let the dough rest overnight instead of using it right away, which was recommended in almost all other gingerbread recipes I found. The texture is exactly like I wanted it to be, and it tastes pretty good, but I think the amount of gingerbread spices was a little too much, and it turned out to have more of a gingerbread taste than I wanted. Maybe this will resolve itself after a few days since gingerbread is rarely supposed to be eaten right away.<br />
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<b>Here are some pictures of my different "gingerbreads":</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs7JG9XUK53imioyByuc-rKTFrCf4F-R9Mws0rYQp5qHv05sH3y_wXuc-7dAdBYhOlUirPOshCZa1W2PFSEYEpjH2CYRz8dnlqnUsfI83aWHhC36ZnuE3K6E0mN9NyGtG_fe2ofSBIW5Bs/s1600/Lebkuchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs7JG9XUK53imioyByuc-rKTFrCf4F-R9Mws0rYQp5qHv05sH3y_wXuc-7dAdBYhOlUirPOshCZa1W2PFSEYEpjH2CYRz8dnlqnUsfI83aWHhC36ZnuE3K6E0mN9NyGtG_fe2ofSBIW5Bs/s320/Lebkuchen.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The last recipe: Soft, chocolate covered gingerbread</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magenbrot</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjig7_XOM26-uv6F_rPaNUVxfQ9CyS3Ss4D-GJV8xHT6BPWwFd-lQNaRMs1AOTfuW84WPFail_OKR2Fj8_lcenE3Ex2FuEBDt_X-vnoVCESOv_z9AER8Cd7XWkhy0cmqja6k85JRMsH818Z/s1600/Gewuerzkuchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjig7_XOM26-uv6F_rPaNUVxfQ9CyS3Ss4D-GJV8xHT6BPWwFd-lQNaRMs1AOTfuW84WPFail_OKR2Fj8_lcenE3Ex2FuEBDt_X-vnoVCESOv_z9AER8Cd7XWkhy0cmqja6k85JRMsH818Z/s320/Gewuerzkuchen.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gingerbread spice cake</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv5X29Sy9UuEzk76VEfinhUfdl13EPnqgGDDE1niSAlj2hyphenhyphenc5P83whBoFHrh_m86KLP1X17YYkIRqqu0cLRnzXodMCos3tHDAb9L0UCGVzCwInNQ5jkNxwyhC9CoG-sn4D3OanlhSjlh9T/s1600/harteLebkuchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv5X29Sy9UuEzk76VEfinhUfdl13EPnqgGDDE1niSAlj2hyphenhyphenc5P83whBoFHrh_m86KLP1X17YYkIRqqu0cLRnzXodMCos3tHDAb9L0UCGVzCwInNQ5jkNxwyhC9CoG-sn4D3OanlhSjlh9T/s320/harteLebkuchen.jpg" width="368" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hard gingerbread</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<b>Here is my modified gingerbread recipe:</b><br />
Combine 250g butter, 200g sugar (half white, half brown) and 250g honey and heat slowly until the sugar melts. Do not boil. Remove from heat and let cool down before adding the other ingredients.<br />
<br />
Combine 100g ground hazelnuts, 100g white flour, 100g spelt flour, and 300g whole wheat flour (the original recipe simply uses 600g flour - I am sure almost any combination will work). Also add 1 tsp baking powder, 5g cinnamon and 7.5g gingerbread spices. However next time around I would add less gingerbread spice mixture, probably also only 5g (the original recipe calls for 7.5g of cinnamon plus 7.5g gingerbread spices).<br />
<br />
Mix one egg with 1/2 cup milk. Dissolve Hirschhornsalz (= hartshorn, baker's ammonia) in milk mixture.<br />
<br />
Add milk mixture and flour mix to the cooled honey mix. Stir until combined. Cover and store in a cool place over night (I put my dough in the cold basement for ~20 hours).<br />
<br />
The next day, spread the dough over parchment-paper covered baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 C) for 30 minutes.<br />
<br />
Cover with melted chocolate and cut into squares while still warm.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>And of while I was in Christmas baking mood I also made some other Christmas cookies:</b><br />
<table style="width: 100%;">
<tbody>
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<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH44-V7m9ospBF7RRmexZlDQ7EXroCZB7Mfe5j-YImUvJsUA13XrAUbK6CTq1H_can4-W8jNvIehO0PGYEW2bj0yVcNVoUTRfcZwYQueirO8aLtuAGEbJdcuft5kmc9TBm6JFrCMtdsWfA/s1600/Engelsaugen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH44-V7m9ospBF7RRmexZlDQ7EXroCZB7Mfe5j-YImUvJsUA13XrAUbK6CTq1H_can4-W8jNvIehO0PGYEW2bj0yVcNVoUTRfcZwYQueirO8aLtuAGEbJdcuft5kmc9TBm6JFrCMtdsWfA/s320/Engelsaugen.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Engelsaugen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCduKFPgcGOvABSRmGR7x0UzrGb955aNrvr0UFV5y1CjIFtjan20-vKLvOnnOL43bPxSEFBsU-2tn4yYnMrp62uDGoQJP6mkUXzrMgtopvnBbs0h0yumNIBNTrEY071ZJOxzFQH-GQ5B_U/s1600/Schneekugeln.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCduKFPgcGOvABSRmGR7x0UzrGb955aNrvr0UFV5y1CjIFtjan20-vKLvOnnOL43bPxSEFBsU-2tn4yYnMrp62uDGoQJP6mkUXzrMgtopvnBbs0h0yumNIBNTrEY071ZJOxzFQH-GQ5B_U/s320/Schneekugeln.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Schneekugeln</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnUGTZRT9xrfZ4DrNiaC4205G1I0Lm-nXcnIFltZ_99-UGGHKbRaWgrpexp-Fx9fQhLjqlW_YMegKqzo3h5CU2kYCU3wCNwK7YzC-Wt1fEuzT8-qUdXcxT7rGx_lmVjgc5D7G-oHA_JSq8/s1600/Mandelhoernchen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnUGTZRT9xrfZ4DrNiaC4205G1I0Lm-nXcnIFltZ_99-UGGHKbRaWgrpexp-Fx9fQhLjqlW_YMegKqzo3h5CU2kYCU3wCNwK7YzC-Wt1fEuzT8-qUdXcxT7rGx_lmVjgc5D7G-oHA_JSq8/s320/Mandelhoernchen.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mandelhoernchen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3N56aUJfsG3tsxBB2hiqdysrnZ3I3NXsw1Ua05Npz6EtDZy_Po7m9yLYpBH4yf4SyQjXkbl9JPv_zv3vhepI3UkXeZUqAm6vAv20X19DEtxLyI2UoCLLhc-hYFX-4-j4ErMzPMVbXZH5i/s1600/Makronen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3N56aUJfsG3tsxBB2hiqdysrnZ3I3NXsw1Ua05Npz6EtDZy_Po7m9yLYpBH4yf4SyQjXkbl9JPv_zv3vhepI3UkXeZUqAm6vAv20X19DEtxLyI2UoCLLhc-hYFX-4-j4ErMzPMVbXZH5i/s320/Makronen.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kokos-Marzipan-, und Haselnussmakronen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZFcdy3ADMKEy8z68jHG2doIFGQAAKRLdidHeFm8xfYtcRA6tdssXKlto2auslPfZm_vdKzQTjPwqIlwfiyw0jwYJdml_QhzWIuqsruvFNRuliS820hOooj8AwmqIHr2DHqEZLOIMea2I5/s1600/falscheEngelsaugen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZFcdy3ADMKEy8z68jHG2doIFGQAAKRLdidHeFm8xfYtcRA6tdssXKlto2auslPfZm_vdKzQTjPwqIlwfiyw0jwYJdml_QhzWIuqsruvFNRuliS820hOooj8AwmqIHr2DHqEZLOIMea2I5/s320/falscheEngelsaugen.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">dunkle Engelsaugen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJVaMAPsmQF15LYRCyr_I6EjLBye8_y04G-a1cdqPxVfLzP-bvK5uoU9rsIaoS6wF1YbmYSiiZnYsJ413tTw6_LcdohaLQGcQLJWQJbyhxN5WnzqAmKWtfLl9VD5zgR0Othnzi6x_JxbE/s1600/Vanillekipferl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJVaMAPsmQF15LYRCyr_I6EjLBye8_y04G-a1cdqPxVfLzP-bvK5uoU9rsIaoS6wF1YbmYSiiZnYsJ413tTw6_LcdohaLQGcQLJWQJbyhxN5WnzqAmKWtfLl9VD5zgR0Othnzi6x_JxbE/s320/Vanillekipferl.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vanillekipferl</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha42q3t2REPhHy-CIIbk56LE-PAB-SJKJRqCVbb1ur8P4XrGdfc6JXVGx-UV-fza8vu75gL34Xb1ZUO5hpEYdP7yYbc3k_oR-F3s6MOWkPABKiOqitunKx4KswP5ZHt-QkMwwov5VArg6J/s1600/Wespennester.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha42q3t2REPhHy-CIIbk56LE-PAB-SJKJRqCVbb1ur8P4XrGdfc6JXVGx-UV-fza8vu75gL34Xb1ZUO5hpEYdP7yYbc3k_oR-F3s6MOWkPABKiOqitunKx4KswP5ZHt-QkMwwov5VArg6J/s320/Wespennester.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wespennester</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggy8NCv_4ccYCBSBMEepdYdn1rC1yf33X3iKH98vDqglRrqdkJO4f7BQjkdjLCPEjxhKmE18QctHMbiQqOrm0M3pv-nDXMeqTARgulaeMIerKWSHogAadtzsbo3EdSgwPfqam60D5OxnEp/s1600/plainDark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggy8NCv_4ccYCBSBMEepdYdn1rC1yf33X3iKH98vDqglRrqdkJO4f7BQjkdjLCPEjxhKmE18QctHMbiQqOrm0M3pv-nDXMeqTARgulaeMIerKWSHogAadtzsbo3EdSgwPfqam60D5OxnEp/s320/plainDark.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Haselnussschokoplaetzchen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
<td><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-58721425521113064012016-12-16T19:12:00.002-08:002016-12-16T19:12:52.456-08:00Gingerbread CakeThis recipe for gingerbread cake has been sitting in my list of recipes to try for probably two years now. This year I finally got around to making the cake that sounds just perfect: it contains gingerbread and marzipan! There are 3 almond sponge cake layers stacked with gingerbread cream, plum fruit spread and marzipan:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXp_ouaUXSAq92q2qjiaVKwkfUrhCAHegsPskN5OSx_sjor3FyFEk7PWoZhUnLVFQrZIc0Fi3zaEg8zGBJd-N9I_sWJ8pDtfL3gU1XY2ZFDFAUW56NdH33onn8QhZ0c5108xHmYx5CG56i/s1600/IMG_5550.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXp_ouaUXSAq92q2qjiaVKwkfUrhCAHegsPskN5OSx_sjor3FyFEk7PWoZhUnLVFQrZIc0Fi3zaEg8zGBJd-N9I_sWJ8pDtfL3gU1XY2ZFDFAUW56NdH33onn8QhZ0c5108xHmYx5CG56i/s1600/IMG_5550.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<b><u>Recipe:</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
<u>Sponge Cake:</u><br />
<ul>
<li>180g sugar</li>
<li>110g flour</li>
<li>40g corn starch</li>
<li>3 eggs, separated</li>
<li>100 ml cold water</li>
<li>75g ground almonds</li>
<li>1/2 tsp baking powder</li>
<li>1/2 tsp cinnamon</li>
</ul>
Beat egg whites until stiff. Then beat egg yolks, water and sugar until light colored and foamy (can take several minutes). Mix almonds, flour, corn starch, baking powder and cinnamon, and fold under egg yolk mixture using a spoon. Fold in egg whites and bake at 320 degrees F for 20 - 30 minutes. I used three 9 inch baking forms and baked the cakes for 20 minutes, which resulted in 3 perfect layers for my cake without having to cut one sponge cake into the different layers. However baking one cake for about 30 minutes and cutting it into layers works just as well.<br />
<br />
<u>Cream Filling:</u><br />
<ul>
<li>180g mascarpone</li>
<li>100g greek yogurt</li>
<li>200 ml whipping cream</li>
<li>100g gingerbread</li>
<li>20g sugar</li>
<li>1 tsp cinnamon</li>
<li>2 tbsp powdered sugar</li>
<li>4 tbsp orange juice</li>
<li>1/2 package powdered gelatin (~4g)</li>
</ul>
Crumble the gingerbread into fine pieces (I used chocolate covered gingerbread, but I think any kind will work as long as it does not contain any dried or candied fruit). Using a small grinder or food processor on a low setting works well to make the crumbs. Mix the crumbs, mascarpone, yogurt and sugar. Whip cream with cinnamon and powdered sugar. Dissolve the gelatin in the orange juice for 10 minutes and the heat slowly until the gelatin melts. Let cool a bit and mix into whipped cream (start with one spoonful of cream and add more cream slowly). Quickly mix the cream-gelatin with the gingerbread-mascarpone. If the filling is very soft, put it in the fridge for the gelatin to harden.<br />
<br />
<u>Assemble the cake:</u><br />
You also need plum jam and 100g marzipan. You can either grate the marzipan or roll it out into the form of your cake. Put about 2/3 of the gingerbread cream on the bottom layer. Add the second layer and top it with jam and the marzipan. Finally add the 3rd layer of sponge cake and cover the cake with the rest of the gingerbread cream. Decorate with gingerbread cookie pieces.Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-86172704561139047792016-12-14T15:45:00.001-08:002016-12-14T15:45:15.387-08:00Skiing Cannon MountainSince I've been baking too many cookies Peter figured out how to get me away from the oven for a few days even if it is not windy: Skiing! The forecast looked great, so we went for a skiing trip to Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire.<br />
<br />
Peter found an amazing place to stay at the Woodstock Inn Brewery, where we had a whirlpool and gas fireplace in our rooms. The skiing was great with new powder and sunny skies. Since this was our first day back on skis after a 6 year break, my legs stopped working at 3pm and I was asleep at 9. I did however manage to take my camera and make a few pictures from the great area and my tired face (but honestly my eyes are only closed because I was looking directly towards the sun):<br />
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<br />Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-71010655306327486922016-12-03T19:10:00.003-08:002016-12-03T19:10:34.693-08:00Intimidating Fun at CorporationA windy, sunny Saturday - what else would we do except go windsurfing. So off we went, but instead of our usual NW spots we decided to check out Corporation. I recently fell back in love with my custom wave board shaped by Mark Angulo and really wanted to sail it in some waves where it belongs.<br />
Usually we don't go wave sailing in waves that are taller than I, and definitely not in December and 5 degrees Celsius (40 F) temperatures, so this was a bit intimidating today. The around 30 mph averages did not make it more comfortable either and we almost decided to go somewhere else after arriving and looking out at the water and the blowing sand. But since I had said I wanted to sail in waves, and there definitely were some waves, I figured I had to rig up and at least give it a try. It was a surprising amount of fun and I am glad we ended up sailing in Corporation! Big thanks to everyone who came out to play, and especially to Peter who went with me even though he is not a big fan of Corporation. He took a few pictures of me on my last run in:<br />
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<br />Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-51522417318203282192016-12-01T16:04:00.001-08:002016-12-03T18:51:12.648-08:00Cookies!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: start;">Finally it is December, which means I have an excuse to bake Christmas cookies! Trying out new recipes is half of the fun, so I went ahead and tried a few new ones which I found online and in the amazing cookie recipe book </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gourmet-Cookie-Book-Single-1941-2009/dp/0547328168" style="text-align: start;" target="_blank">The Gourmet Cookie Book</a><span style="text-align: start;">. So far I made benne wafers, coconut-cranberry cookies, bride's cookies and Spritzgebäck.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">Benne wafers are sesame (=benne) caramel lace cookies that consist mainly of sugar and sesame seeds. I made those mainly because I had a lot of sesame seeds, which I use occasionally when baking bread. The recipe for these are from the Gourmet Cookie Book.</span></div>
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Similar to the sesame seeds I had some dried cranberries lying in my kitchen, so I went in search of a recipe that uses cranberries. I found <a href="http://www.loveandflour.com/cranberry-coconut-oatmeal-cookies/" target="_blank">this recipe</a> for oatmeal cranberry coconut cookies, and changed it just slightly by skipping the white sugar. The combination of coconut and cranberry flavor tastes great.<br />
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Bride's cookies ("Pastelitos De Boda") are essentially a shortbread butter cookie with ground pecans. The recipe is agin from The Gourmet Cookie Book, and I changed it only by adding some cardamom to give the cookies some spice.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ZDozacKSJL9Y8X1yHHA2K8pg91LU9SM2XN-uGWSnPUDR57vvv7tYqnoSmNKrKHyrFbtb6Q6jB0QwWoc9jdLmNkqfi1YHRhQLSQcJouU3xiwxpLR4Lxh7MQSupCMrD0yv1JwldeBbhlUF/s1600/Spritzgeba%25CC%2588ck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ZDozacKSJL9Y8X1yHHA2K8pg91LU9SM2XN-uGWSnPUDR57vvv7tYqnoSmNKrKHyrFbtb6Q6jB0QwWoc9jdLmNkqfi1YHRhQLSQcJouU3xiwxpLR4Lxh7MQSupCMrD0yv1JwldeBbhlUF/s320/Spritzgeba%25CC%2588ck.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Making Spritzgebäck (spritz cookies?) was the most fun, since I had a cookie press to make them. The recipe is also from my book, and the pretty picture of the traditional S shape inspired buying a cookie press. Making tree and heart shapes with the press was super easy, free forming the S shapes not so much, but a challenge is half the fun, right?!</div>
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Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-60835808679465264462016-11-25T18:52:00.005-08:002016-11-25T18:53:13.802-08:00Cape Cod in NovemberWell, I did want to write about the pear cheesecake I made, but looking at my pictures from this month, I found some nice ones I wanted to share with you. Last Sunday we had a great day of windsurfing at Kalmus in mid 30mph winds. I ended up sailing on my smallest gear - my 3.4 sail and the 72l Angulo wave board. There are no great waves in Kalmus, so the board might have been a bit mismatched, but I had a ton of fun on it! After being out on my 90l Skate two days before in Chapin and trying to get the rails to catch in the waves, I really wanted to try my wave board again and put it back in the van. It felt amazing - so responsive and it picks up amazing speed going down the waves! There is no picture of me sailing, but I managed to hand my camera to someone to take a picture of 4 of us in the Ianovated wetsuit that kept us warm this day:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BqkhncHw1kfUhFPpxM2TWBR7Q0dr55r-2tt8yphyFCCAqJF9HSpyWCyIslqLs3YWRK14fkHNkxc8qhQ4W4a-Z_9NAlEBlTbtXKc1-APbecdzr1yrDJ3_z_9OKmqR6CjX-gaf4aT7maKl/s1600/P1040626+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4BqkhncHw1kfUhFPpxM2TWBR7Q0dr55r-2tt8yphyFCCAqJF9HSpyWCyIslqLs3YWRK14fkHNkxc8qhQ4W4a-Z_9NAlEBlTbtXKc1-APbecdzr1yrDJ3_z_9OKmqR6CjX-gaf4aT7maKl/s1600/P1040626+%25281%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter, I, Jay and Alex in our Ianovated suits</td></tr>
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Exhausting myself for several hours on Sunday I had a little cold on Tuesday and just walked along the beach while Peter sailed In Cape Cod Bay. Here are a few pictures from the beach for all of those that have never been on Cape Cod:<br />
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<br />Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-2341381089104018022016-11-21T15:02:00.001-08:002016-11-21T15:02:47.998-08:00Coconut Loaf Cake<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have been trying several coconut cakes in the past, and while most were pretty good, I never found the perfect one - until now. This is a very simple "Rührkuchen" (similar to a pound cake) that is moist, has a great crust and an amazing coconut taste.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The picture did not turn out too good, and definitely does not do the cake justice. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I do believe most of the great taste is due to the coconut greek yoghurt I used, but it could also just be the right combination of butter, flour, sugar and coconut. Baking this cake was a bit of a "let's see what we have and mix it all together" thing. For example I ran out of regular sugar and ended up using about 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and the triple sec has been standing in our kitchen for a while and I simply decided I need to start using our alcohol that no one drinks. With all the powdered sugar I was not sure about using all sweetened coconut, so I used a mix of sweetened and unsweetened. Here is the recipe:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="text-indent: -41px;"> </span><span class="s2" style="text-indent: -41px;">•</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="text-indent: -41px;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -41px;">1/2 cup butter</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="s2">•</span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>1 cup sugar (used half regular, half powdered)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="s2">•</span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>3 eggs</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="s2">•</span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>1 cup flour</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="s2">•</span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>1/2 cup corn starch</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="s2">•</span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>1 cup shredded coconut (half sweetened, half unsweetened)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="s2">•</span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>150g coconut greek yoghurt (=1/2cup)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="s2">•</span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>dash of salt, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="s2">•</span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>generous dash of triple sec (~2 tbsp?)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Bake at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for ~60 min.</span></div>
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</style>Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-44176064531543127042016-11-15T06:50:00.002-08:002016-11-15T06:50:35.006-08:00Light Wind Freestyle with AirDuring our Hatteras vacation in October I got to try an inflatable, sailable SUP. Peter and I took it out on a nice light wind day to see how it would feel compared to our regular light wind boards. The idea of an inflatable sounds awesome - it saves a ton of space compared to our regular SUPs and in my case would probably replace my SUP and the Bic Nova. So we took the opportunity to try the 10'4 Fanatic Fly Air for some light wind freestyle. Here is a video recorded with a mast mount:<br />
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Very quickly after starting to sail I removed the fin - which made everything feel so much better for light wind freestyle. The fin had been collecting lots of weeds, and since the boards has two small, permanently attached, side fins, you do not really need the center fin for the light wind tricks and spins. The inflatable did have a bit of a bouncy feel to it which made jumping up and down on it a ton of fun, but needs some getting-used-to when taking big steps on the board. It felt a lot more stable and less spinny than my 170l Bic Nova. This made any moves relying on the board keeping direction easier than they would be on my short Nova, but moves that turn the board took a bit longer. Peter felt like the mast mount was a bit too far forward for his sailing, and the nose did dip in the water frequently when he sailed.<br />
Overall it was a lot of fun to sail, and I think this could be used for light wind sailing, flat water SUP'ing, and even for catching some small waves. Now if the inflatable SUP's only had some system for the inserts that allowed rail rides without having to worry about damaging the SUP... Considering the current insert, we did not deem it save and refrained from trying rail rides on it.
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Special thanks to Brian and Ocean Air Sports who made it possible for me to try the SUP! I love that we still have windsurfing stores where you can try the gear you are interested in!Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-88973112730574430592016-11-05T18:53:00.002-07:002016-11-05T18:55:13.005-07:00Halloween Sailing on OBXUsually it is windy on Halloween. This year we were supposed to leave the Outer Banks (OBX) on October 29, but the wind forecast looked to good for Oct 31 to leave just yet, so we stayed for a couple more days. The wind came not quite as strong as promised but stayed the whole day. I sailed pretty much the whole day with a long lunch break. In the morning I took out the video camera to get some footage of me sailing. The goal was to finally get a Flaka, and the first try of the day was the best one all morning. Enjoy the video:<br />
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<br />Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-50235481895166073702016-10-15T14:50:00.001-07:002016-10-15T14:50:24.325-07:00The Great White of Cape CodWe do have some great white sharks here on the Cape, but I am talking about our windsurfing van. It is a white, high roof van, therefore titled the "Great White". Recently my mom mentioned that in such a big van, we should be able to sleep inside on a mattress during our longer trips. Since it is hard to explain and even harder to imagine our van stuffed full of windsurfing gear if you have never seen it, I decided to post some pictures to offer some insight. Here are a few of our fully packed van for one of our Hatteras trips:<div>
<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifSz0a7tTp_rMKLWG99_Xke7ZgEyAV8A-7ilCpibHwkjnRRyY0HMTgKwPFKy9oJblQ7zxdJAvaSo0cPg59WixxaIzFYeRcy89-gEhHzSp381JSgWzQ0qVdZPVjslysEXHJRZKBQtpfoeLz/s1600/IMG_5449.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifSz0a7tTp_rMKLWG99_Xke7ZgEyAV8A-7ilCpibHwkjnRRyY0HMTgKwPFKy9oJblQ7zxdJAvaSo0cPg59WixxaIzFYeRcy89-gEhHzSp381JSgWzQ0qVdZPVjslysEXHJRZKBQtpfoeLz/s1600/IMG_5449.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of our packed van from the back - pretty full, right?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQxQ1i73kPioat5mpFacmedObLRW5kKrP4KqEjnbOW8qLO3p8h2VCyFgvBOQXLffm5xf719E-V2_Y3I3iRNY7XiXa0kw4mmuJQh2jW_4Lr5vGtoeIXddeDK2UUcSa8YoLoB6RuVVOItTkn/s1600/IMG_5450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQxQ1i73kPioat5mpFacmedObLRW5kKrP4KqEjnbOW8qLO3p8h2VCyFgvBOQXLffm5xf719E-V2_Y3I3iRNY7XiXa0kw4mmuJQh2jW_4Lr5vGtoeIXddeDK2UUcSa8YoLoB6RuVVOItTkn/s1600/IMG_5450.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And from the side - not sure where a mattress would find space...</td></tr>
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So, as you can see, there is definitely no space for sleeping except on the front seat. But if you think about what we managed to put in there, Peter did a pretty good job of packing. In the pictures above we have 2 longboards on top of the van, and all of this inside: 9 boards, 6 booms, ~ 20 sails, ~10 masts, an inflatable boat, an inflatable kajak, a motor for the boat, a gas canister for the boat, 3 suitcases, 2 beach chairs, 3 big shopping bags full of wetsuits and booties (yes, those are mine!), 2 plastic boxes full of absolutely necessary windsurfing stuff, and lots of other small items like the pumps to inflate the boat, harnesses, fins, etc. - oh, and a ladder to get the boards on and off the roof of the van! And I probably forgot to mention lots of the things inside the van, but as everyone knows great whites are pretty big...</div>
Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-76121598203248410132016-10-11T15:45:00.001-07:002016-10-11T15:45:06.498-07:00T-Shirt PillowcasesUsually we have a few left over t-shirts after our windsurfing festival each fall. Not wanting to throw them out, but also not interested in having 5 of each, I came up with the idea to repurpose them as pillowcases:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwBs3g-Yv9Bt6UPBrUBO3oDqZiCWLD-1V_AboslayHJwFKdWiGgQg8DLgGxKBji52LU7Kw5pfZdykH2DUkauvQ5MpL1UUpBG-s1YfPMk5Andvd1ppf-h3rX_0JuPMzlW2_ZQ51Ds_PWQVo/s1600/IMG_5446.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwBs3g-Yv9Bt6UPBrUBO3oDqZiCWLD-1V_AboslayHJwFKdWiGgQg8DLgGxKBji52LU7Kw5pfZdykH2DUkauvQ5MpL1UUpBG-s1YfPMk5Andvd1ppf-h3rX_0JuPMzlW2_ZQ51Ds_PWQVo/s320/IMG_5446.jpg" width="352" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjLiqAHJJoCgdXYB0KKozsQe5w2o4iXt3EYf-KQ6WSM86TPIBgdk6WnJ9hPinyLEUyZSsywIcdK3nJAqXOD-eyv2ziY0bjyY60wkrK2LffP8ItuWh9mlBB98wROCT3DqseFNrZ6ek3ouh/s1600/IMG_5448.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjLiqAHJJoCgdXYB0KKozsQe5w2o4iXt3EYf-KQ6WSM86TPIBgdk6WnJ9hPinyLEUyZSsywIcdK3nJAqXOD-eyv2ziY0bjyY60wkrK2LffP8ItuWh9mlBB98wROCT3DqseFNrZ6ek3ouh/s320/IMG_5448.jpg" width="352" /></a></div>
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The dark green one was made with the shirt from our very first East Coast Windsurfing Festival here on Cape Cod, the red one was this year's t-shirt. I really like my zippered pillowcases, they remind me of our windsurfing events and are easily washable. Making them was not that hard - you can find tutorials for everything online these days. It was however the first time I have sewn a zipper into anything, but after making my own bikini tops this was rather easy. Also I do need lots of sewing practice since I am currently looking into acquiring an industrial sewing machine for windsurfing sail repairs. Who knows, if we have a non windy weekend I might just start on a quilt next...</div>
Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4563143333365885458.post-18911023233076852632016-10-08T15:40:00.001-07:002016-10-08T15:40:20.908-07:00Remembering SmartiesRecently I picked up some candy coated chocolate drops while shopping. They reminded me very strongly of "Smarties", a popular children's candy in Germany.<br />
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One morning, after having had the candy lying in our kitchen for a few days, I woke up with a strong urge to bake a marble cake and decorate it with the candy. Checking in with my Mom confirmed my suspicion that we used to do this when I was little. I do not have a proper cake pan for the marble cake as I remember it, so it was baked in a bread pan. There was also some experimenting with the chocolate coating, which was needed to make the Smarties stick to the cake. I have been trying to get a tasty and functional chocolate coating for a while, but have not figured out the correct mix of chocolate and fat yet. For the record: 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and 100g 70% chocolate is too thin. I still managed to make the smarties stick to the cake, but the cake could not be touched (and eaten) for the rest of the day on which it was made, to allow the coating to dry somewhat.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZNI9RHzaUCLWzCkTi38CkhwDovtieMz2qJjK-zXcL04puRvcgaPuA4jWDlvu320goliAJTIAaoj9RgHhZGSoDzAI2_mGBFxKueQ8wxv_YEtg-HY8R4Ts1d8jHjChWI04rhluyKQhAXek/s1600/P1040548.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibZNI9RHzaUCLWzCkTi38CkhwDovtieMz2qJjK-zXcL04puRvcgaPuA4jWDlvu320goliAJTIAaoj9RgHhZGSoDzAI2_mGBFxKueQ8wxv_YEtg-HY8R4Ts1d8jHjChWI04rhluyKQhAXek/s1600/P1040548.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marble cake decorated with candy coated chocolate drops</td></tr>
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<br />Ninahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13523897641512965203noreply@blogger.com0